As if the only way I, an independent conservative former Libertarian, could ever develop an informed opinion without my conservative "masters" telling me what it is and how to present it. I find this highly insulting and, to be blunt, this is the epitome of the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. When I hear the same talking points ad nauseum and verbatim from so many different people, I cannot help but assume that they came from the same source, because it's virtually impossible that so many different people can parrot the same exact lines without harvesting them from the same orchard. I could be wrong, but a duck is a duck, after all.

So, is Foxnews really Satan's platform for spreading the subversive messages of modern conservatism? No doubt they have an agenda, no doubt that agenda is right leaning and no doubt there are scores of people who do indeed get their opinions from that single source, exactly the way left says they do. FoxNews viewers and right wing extremists share a common core; rejection of everything "liberal", in the modern sense, though not all are rabid extremists and not all agree on everything.

The main reason "liberals" hate FoxNews is that until FoxNews came along, the "liberal" left had a monopoly on so-called "news" coverage in this country and there was no outlet for the other side except Rush Limbaugh, and Ozzy knows that message is about as right leaning and shrill as any political entertainment program out there, but it was the ONLY one for a long time. FoxNews emerged as a conservative voice in a "liberal" wilderness of PC thuggery and right wing hating demagoguery that demonized anyone and everyone who dared speak out against anything "progressive" (which is another word bastardized into meaning exactly the opposite of it's original definition). Still, to this day, FoxNews pretty much stands alone as the only conservative based "news" media outlet, pitted against NBC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, the Huffington Post, Mother Jones and so many other left leaning "liberal" apologist sources that there are too many to name in this blog post. (Here is a link that lists most of them) *This same source has an equally long list of conservative news outlets, most of which are internet based*

And what is the message these "news" outlets want you to know? Conservatives are ALL racists, backward thinking, mouth breathing, knuckle dragging contrarians who want to keep you down, take all the "wealth" and hoard it so no one can ever hope to rise above the poverty level, leave your parents and grandparents destitute and steal their Social Security, deny children an education and food...basically we are all evil and hate anyone who isn't white and rich. Conservatives want to "...have dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance..."; we are "tea baggers", neo-Cons, war mongers, homophobes and religious nuts and all we want is more, more, more...

So, is it really surprising that, in the face of this much raw hatred from the left, fomented by every "news" outlet on television, in print and on the radio, conservatives would flock to the one place where they can have their beliefs and their ideals championed? I was bullied as a child, mercilessly, because I was a skinny little runt with big ears and because children are the cruelest creatures on this earth until they learn what it feels like to be on the receiving end. I was beaten, ridiculed, terrorized and tortured for most of childhood, until I found a friend who decided I was worth talking to, worth being with and once I found that one friend, I knew for sure that no matter what happened to me, I always mattered to him. He was there when I needed him (and still is), so I stuck to him like glue. FoxNews emerged as that one friend for conservatives, when the rest of the media world was bullying them. And "liberals" hate Fox, not because of the message itself, but because it isn't THEIR message, because it offers a different (though not necessarily always correct) choice than "fall in line or f**k off".

To be fair, "liberals" these days are no less demonized, no less the subject of hate filled diatribes from the right leaning pundits and ideologues and have every right to be as insulted by what some on my side throw at them, the caveat being that the vast majority of right wing mudslinging occurs on social media and the internet rather than from institutionalized and highly regimented "traditional" news outlets.

But if you're reading this far, if you haven't automatically fallen into the trap of dismissing my message because it's true but it's different from yours, then read this:

DON'T get your views from television shows, DON'T base your opinions on the same misinformation others in your "party" spoon feed you and DON'T let your default position be whatever the news media you watch tells you it should be if you want to be a "good American", because America wasn't born with that mindset, it was born with the mindset that WE ALL, "conservative", "liberal" or whatever, have an equal say in the direction the country takes, we ALL are important and we ALL have a voice...don't let yours be silenced by FoxNews, or MSNBC or me or ANYONE...the future of the country depends on it.